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The head of the US soybean association has pressed President Donald Trump to avoid a trade war, in a letter that warns of the damage his policies could do to trade worth 27 billion US dollars with China.
John Heisdorffer, the president of the American Soybean Association – a body representing 300,000 farmers across 30 states – said a trade war “could seriously undermine our industry.”
President Donald Trump at the annual American Farm Bureau Federation conference in Nashville, Tennessee, on Monday, Jan. 8, 2018.
The ASA’s letter to the president, dated March 12, cites concerns that other countries, “particularly China,” could retaliate to his recent tariffs on steel and aluminum by targeting the US soybean industry.
The US exported 62.6 million tons of soybeans in 2017, with soybeans contributing more to agricultural exports than any other product.
The ASA describes in its letter how China has become the industry’s biggest customer, representing 61 percent of all US soybean exports, and calls on the US president to recognize agriculture’s potential for reducing the US trade deficit.
Trump has previously pledged support for US farmers, signing an executive order last April on “promoting agriculture and rural prosperity.”
His flip-flop stance towards the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has seen him promise to renegotiate “a better deal for our country and for our farmers and for our manufacturers,” amid concerns US protectionism would hit agriculture harder than any other sector.
Not even a year ago, CGTN reported on a deal between China and the US state of Iowa, which saw China agree to buy 12.5 million tons of soybeans in an agreement hailed as the reason the China-US trade relationship would “continue to grow in the future.”
On Tuesday, Yu Xubo, head of China’s biggest food company Cofco, told Bloomberg that tit-for-tat trade actions were not “going to be any good for the whole economy,” adding “the Chinese government is still very much encouraging” domestic companies to buy US soybeans.
While the US exported a record amount of soybeans in 2017, it has been overtaken by Brazil as China’s biggest source of soybean imports.
Official data show that while China is self-reliant when it comes to crops like rice, wheat and corn, the country relies on imports of soybeans – which are especially important for pig feed in the world’s biggest pork market.
Statistics from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization show the amount of land in China allocated for soybean production is at its lowest point since the 1960s.
If any trade action be taken against US soybean producers, major producers like Brazil, India and Argentina would likely be happy to step in and take over the US trade to China.
China’s government has repeatedly warned that there can be no winner from any kind of trade war, while calling for any trade disputes to be handled through dialogue. The Ministry of Commerce on Sunday said China doesn’t want and will not start a trade war, but is able to deal with any challenges, and will defend the interests of the nation and the Chinese people.
On Tuesday the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said that Trump’s trade policies could “obviously threaten the recovery” of the global economy, adding that “safeguarding the rules-based international trading system is key” to resolve any disputes.
(CGTN)
